Acting legend Brigitte Bardot was fined for racial abuse after saying native Indian Ocean islanders have 'savage genes'

• Brigitte Bardot is facing a €20,000 ($23,000) fine for calling Reunionese people "natives who still have savage genes" in a 2019 letter.
• Her comments were in response to how the people of the French Indian Ocean island treat their animals.

French actress Brigitte Bardot was fined €20,000, or about $23,100, for calling the people of French Island La Reunion "savages," according to the Telegraph.

In a 2019 letter, the film star described the Reunionese as "natives who still have savage genes," Société reported.

Her comment was in response to how people of the French Indian Ocean island treat animals.

In the letter, she targeted the Hindu Tamil population of the island, and criticized them for "sacrificing goats" and evoking the "cannibalism of past centuries," according to the Telegraph.

She was fined for racial abuse on Thursday because of the comments, Le Figaro reported.

Her spokesperson, Bruno Jacquelin, was also fined for his involvement in sending the 2019 letter to media outlets, the Telegraph reported.

Bardot previously went on trial in 2008 for racist slurs made against Muslims. At the time, it was the fifth instance in which she faced a charge of "inciting racial hatred," according to Reuters.